EB-5 in 2026: $800,000 vs $1,050,000, Job Creation, and Processing Times

Founder & Managing Attorney

Accurate as of

September 29, 2026

Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the minimum EB-5 investment is $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project and $1,050,000 everywhere else, and each investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying workers. Those amounts adjust for inflation on January 1, 2027 for petitions filed on or after that date, and the total timeline depends on USCIS processing and, for some countries, on visa availability in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

How much do I have to invest?

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) was signed on March 15, 2022. It set two amounts in the statute, 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(C):

Investment location	Minimum capital
Targeted employment area (rural or high unemployment) or infrastructure project	$800,000
Any other location	$1,050,000

The capital must be at risk, must come from a lawful source that you can trace, and, for petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, must be "expected to remain invested for not less than 2 years" (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part G). Source of funds is where most EB-5 files are won or lost; our EB-5 source of funds guide covers the paper trail.

What qualifies for the $800,000 amount?

The statute defines a targeted employment area as, at the time of investment, either:

a rural area: any area outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside the outer boundary of any city or town with a population of 20,000 or more; or
a high unemployment area: an area whose weighted average unemployment rate is "not less than 150 percent of the national average unemployment rate."

An infrastructure project is "a capital investment project in a filed or approved business plan, which is administered by a governmental entity" that is the job creating entity contracting with a regional center. Infrastructure projects therefore run through the regional center program.

How does job creation work?

Every EB-5 investment must create full-time positions for at least 10 qualifying employees. Full-time means a position requiring at least 35 working hours per week. How you count them depends on the model:

Direct investment (standalone). The new commercial enterprise must create the 10 jobs directly, as its own employees.
Regional center investment. Jobs may be direct or indirect. "Indirect jobs are held outside of the new commercial enterprise but are created as a result of the new commercial enterprise," and are usually shown through an economic model. Under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(iv), up to 90 percent of the requirement may be met with indirect jobs, and where the job creation relies on construction activity lasting less than two years, only up to 75 percent may be met with indirect jobs.

Regional center investors typically invest passively as limited partners, which is why the model suits families who will not run the business. Direct investors generally manage their own enterprise.

What changes on January 1, 2027?

The statute provides that "Beginning on January 1, 2027, and every 5 years thereafter," both amounts automatically adjust based on the cumulative change in the unadjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, "rounded down to the nearest $50,000," and the adjusted amounts apply to petitions filed on or after the adjustment. As of September 25, 2026, we have not found any agency publication of the adjusted figures, and we would treat any specific 2027 number circulating online with caution. Our analysis of the January 2027 adjustment explains the mechanics.

What did the September 30, 2026 date protect?

The regional center program is authorized through September 30, 2027 (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(i)). Under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(S), if that authorization lapses, DHS "shall continue processing" regional center petitions "filed on or before September 30, 2026," may not deny them because of the lapse, and may not suspend visa allocation to their approved beneficiaries.

Regional center petitions filed by September 30, 2026 carry that protection. Regional center petitions filed after that date do not, which means their processing could stall if Congress does not reauthorize the program before September 30, 2027, as happened during the 2021 lapse. The protection does not guarantee approval, speed or project success, and direct EB-5 investments do not depend on the regional center authorization at all. Details are in our grandfathering analysis.

What are the set-aside categories, and what does the Visa Bulletin show?

The RIA reserves EB-5 visas each year: 20 percent for investors in rural areas, 10 percent for high unemployment areas, and 2 percent for infrastructure projects (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(B)). The rest are unreserved. USCIS must also prioritize processing of rural petitions (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(ii)).

The most recent bulletin is the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the first of fiscal year 2027:

EB-5 category	All chargeability	China mainland born	India	Mexico	Philippines
Unreserved, Final Action Date	Current	Dec. 1, 2016	Dec. 1, 2023	Current	Current
Unreserved, Date for Filing	Current	Mar. 1, 2021	May 1, 2024	Current	Current
Rural, High Unemployment, Infrastructure (both charts)	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current

India, unavailable in September, returned in October at December 1, 2023. Dates can move each month, so check the current bulletin, and the USCIS chart guidance for adjustment filings, before relying on these dates.

How long does EB-5 take?

The process has four stages:

Project filing (regional center only). The regional center files Form I-956F for the investment offering. An investor may file once the I-956F is properly filed; it does not need to be approved first.
Investor petition. Form I-526E (regional center) or Form I-526 (direct investment).
Conditional residence. Through consular processing abroad, or by filing Form I-485 in the United States. USCIS allows the I-485 to be filed concurrently with the I-526 or I-526E if approval would make a visa immediately available.
Removal of conditions. Form I-829, filed within the 90 day period immediately before the second anniversary of becoming a conditional resident, showing the investment was sustained and the jobs created.

USCIS publishes current processing times for the I-526, I-526E and I-829 on its processing times page. Those figures change monthly and we could not verify them for this article, so we do not quote a number. As a general matter, petition adjudication has taken many months to several years, rural petitions receive statutory priority, and investors born in countries with a backlog in the unreserved category (in October 2026, mainland China and India) face an additional wait for a visa number unless they invest in a set-aside category. Government filing fees change and have been the subject of rulemaking; confirm the current amount on the USCIS form page on the day you file.

Status, stated precisely

Investment amounts: $800,000 and $1,050,000, in effect by statute since March 15, 2022.
Inflation adjustment: takes effect by statute on January 1, 2027; adjusted amounts not published by an agency as of September 25, 2026.
Regional center program: authorized through September 30, 2027.
Grandfathering: applies to regional center petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026.
Implementing regulations: DHS published a proposed rule to implement the RIA on July 2, 2026 (91 FR 40676). It is proposed, not final.

Key numbers

Minimum investment: $800,000 (TEA or infrastructure) or $1,050,000 (elsewhere).
Jobs: 10 full-time positions per investor, 35 hours or more per week.
Indirect jobs: up to 90 percent for regional center projects; up to 75 percent where construction lasts under two years.
Set-asides: 20 percent rural, 10 percent high unemployment, 2 percent infrastructure.
Capital holding period: expected to remain invested not less than two years.
Conditional residence: two years; I-829 filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary.

What to do

Decide between a direct investment you manage and a passive regional center investment.
If you are considering a regional center project, confirm its I-956F filing status and whether it qualifies as rural, high unemployment or infrastructure.
Start the source of funds file now; it is the longest lead item.
If you want the current amounts, plan to file before January 1, 2027, and build in time to trace every dollar.
Check your country's line in the current Visa Bulletin and decide whether a set-aside project changes your timeline.
Review escrow, redemption and job creation projections with counsel before wiring funds.

Sources

Accurate as of September 29, 2026.